


Five Dollar Tees

by Hermitstull



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2013-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-27 05:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/975271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermitstull/pseuds/Hermitstull
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A HS AU set at Old Navy. It takes place during a closing shift around the holiday season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Dollar Tees

**Author's Note:**

> So there was a twitter conversation about appropriate use of song lyrics that led to this. Vodka might have played a part as well. This was posted in parts over on Tumblr over the past couple of weeks. Super fluffy/cracky. 
> 
> Posting here as a one shot.

It was another late night shift at Old Navy.  The holidays were getting close which meant extra time spent folding.

Why people loved to search through every five dollar tee Myka would never understand.

Usually the extra hours spent as a cash controller didn’t bother her, but with mid terms coming up all the late nights were starting to catch up with her. The AP English exam was coming up and she needed to get an A.

It didn’t help that the newest employee was scheduled on her shift, Helena Wells. Ridiculously British, Myka had been pulled in over a break conversation about HG Wells. Both shared an appreciation for the ‘father of science fiction’.

“So,” Helena began as they folded a destroyed stack of $5 tees, “the Winter Formal is next week.”

Myka glanced over at her new friend. She’d never gone to the formal but hope sprang eternal.

“And I was wondering if you were planning on attending?” Helena asked hopefully.

“Well” Myka’s heart raced. “I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s right before midterms.”

“But would you be interested in going?”

“Perhaps,” Myka glanced over with a slight smile, “if the right person asked.”

 

 

“So what’s going on over there?” Steve asked quietly, nodding slight to the girls a couple of tables over.  Pete glanced over to see Myka and the new girl talking quietly.

“Folding,” he sighed, “a world of endless folding.”

“Well duh,” Steve sighed. He wished Claudia was here, but the freshman had called out sick.  “I mean between Mykes and that British chic, Helena.”

“They’re probably talking about some nerdy book thing,” Pete held up a retro style MTV tee for a moment, pondering the possibilities.  “Every break they have together it’s old nerdy book this and old nerdy book that. I mean, couldn’t they at least work in a little Golden Age stuff. That’s classic.”

“I don’t think they’d consider Golden Age comic books classic Pete.”

“Better hurry it up guys,” Ben Valda the manager on duty came up behind them with two rolling racks of clothes. “There are another five of these in the fitting rooms. Everything has to be put up tonight. Mrs. Fredric is coming by in the morning.”

“Glad I’m off,” Pete joked. “She scares me.”

“Well she scares me too,” Ben admitted, “but I don’t want to have another rough visit with the district manager, so hurry up. I don’t want to be here all night.”  He looked over at the other $5 tee table.

“Bering,” he called, “quit flirting and start closing down the front.” Ben headed over to children’s with his racks.

“On it,” Myka, beat red, hurried toward the front of the store, Helena watched her for a moment before returning to folding.

Steve looked at Pete as awareness came across the other boy’s face.

“You see what I was talking about now?” he asked.

“Duuuude,” Pete nodded slowly. “That is so hot.”

 

 

Will waited as long as he could before he went to Helena’s five dollar tee table. He knew his cousin was crushing hard on Myka Bering and was finally ready to make a move that night. He kept a watchful eye on the pair from register one throughout his shift.

When he saw them talking Will almost forgot to bag up a customer’s items he was so excited.

As soon as Myka pulled his draw he made for the large tee table, leaving Rebecca to hold down the front end for the last thirty minutes before close.

“So,” he asked excitedly.  “Did you ask her? What did she say?  Spare no details.”

“Calm down,” Helena’s tone was stern but she couldn’t help but smile. “You know as well as I a lady never tells.”

“Okay. And what does that have to do with you?”

Helena swatted his arm.

“Did you ask her?”

“The topic of the Winter Formal was discussed.”

“And…”

“Will,” Ben Valda’s voice cut off Helena’s reply. The manager had yet another rolling rack that Will had noticed sitting in the back near the break room.  “She’s got this. Get back up front and start cleaning up the registers.”  He shuffled off, rack in trailing behind him.

“You WILL tell me Helena Wells.”

Helena’s laughter trailed behind him as he headed back to register one.

 

 

“So did she or didn’t she?” Rebecca asked.  “Jack’s got a little betting pool going on the results.”

“What?” Will was a bit offended by the concept and insulted that he hadn’t been asked to contribute.

“Never mind that,” his fellow cashier continued. “What did Myka say?”

“What did I say about what?”

Will and Rebecca turned in surprise, not hearing the cash controller come up to collect another couple of registers.

“I was just asking Will if you told him what time we’d be done tonight,” Rebecca lied smoothly. “I’ve got a quiz in Calculus tomorrow.”

“No idea,” Myka replied slowly, not quite believing Rebecca. “The more we stand around a chit chat the longer it will take though.”

“You’re right,” Rebecca smiled weakly as Will hurried over to the next empty register.

Myka was looking down at the register so she didn’t see Jack poke his head around the corner from Men’s, silently asking Rebecca if she’d heard anything.  By the time she looked up he was gone.

She glanced over at the five dollar tee table where Helena was diligently folding.

Will coughed and nodded his head toward Myka who was watching Helena with a crooked smile on her face. Rebecca now felt confident that she was going to win the pot from the bet. She really wanted that red pea coat she’d put on layaway sooner rather than later.

 

 

“Okay people,” Ben stood with his hands on his hips. The store was finally closed, the last customers ushered out a few minutes ago. He waited a moment more for Myka to make her way up front and stand next to Wells.

There was  something up with those two.

“We still have most of boy and toddlers to go as we as clearance,” a groan went through the group.  Even he agreed that sorting the clearance section was like entering a dark vault of despair. “And three tables of tees on Main Street.”

“Pete and Steve take Amanda to the tees.” He looked at Steve, “and make sure she knows how to fold properly, not Lattimer style.”

“Leena keep working in boys, Will is just about done with the front so he can join you. Then move over to toddlers to help Jack.”

“The rest of you will be runners with me. We’ve got another seven racks left in the back room plus a couple in the fitting rooms. Oh and three in the front.”

“What the hell,” Jack said to Leena as they headed to the children’s side of the store, “is there some sort of magic that keeps the rolling racks full? Damn, we’re never gonna be done.”

“Well let’s nope Myka and Rebecca can work their running magic. I hear Helena’s pretty fast too.” Leena looked over at the trio of girls coming out of the back room. Each had their own rack of clothes to put out in  different sections.

“And what time did you put down?”

“I said sometime after close but before we end in clearance,” Leena smiled.  “I had a feeling.”

 

 

Steve felt his pocket vibrate, signaling an incoming text.  Normally he wouldn’t even dream of pulling his phone out while on the floor but he could only take so much of watching Pete and Amanda flirt.

 _Well,_ Claudia asked. She had texted her friend earlier that night to give him the scoop on the latest brewing coworker romance.

 _No word yet_ , he typed a quick reply as he watched Myka and HG work in the same section. Both seemed focused on the task at hand so there was no flirting going on. Part of him was glad. He was so ready to go but they still had Clearance which meant at least another hour, maybe two, and flirting tended to distract people.

He shot a death glare at an oblivious Pete as his pocket came alive again.

 _I need to know._ _I have some serious cash riding on this._

 _What?_ Steve hadn’t heard of any bets on the current staff’s love life.  If so he definitely wanted in. He had a knack for knowing if people were being honest or not.

 _Never mind_ _just keep me updated_.

 

 

“Rebecca,” she slowed, empty rack in hand.

“Well?” Jack asked.

“Nothing yet. We’re almost done running. Only a few racks left.”

Jack glanced over to where Helena was hanging onsies.

“She’s got her headphones on.”

“And?” Rebecca was tired. She really did have a quiz tomorrow and now only cared about getting out of there. She’d risked a glance at Clearance and it was more of a disaster than usual.

“How can they talk when she’s listening to music?” Jack asked.

“They don’t. We’re WORKING on getting out of here,” she moved off.

“And she doesn’t listen to music,” the red head added rounding the corner, “Welcome to Night Vale podcasts.”

“Figures.”

 

 

Will was folding the last bit of jeans in the boys’ denim wall when Helena breezed into his section with a full rack.  He stopped folding and put his hands on his hips, waiting.

Helena ignored him as long as she could, and with an eye roll hit stop on her iPod.

“If you continue to stand there brooding we’ll never get out of here,” she said as she hung a group of polos.

“You know what I want.”

“Well since I can’t produce Benedict Cumberbatch I suggest you get back to work then.”

“So bloody funny,” Will continued straightening the wall.  After a few minutes of silence, he couldn’t stand it.

“Look,” he knelt down and began to work his way up the wall, “I know that I’m being a pain about this,” he paused, “but after all you’ve been through I just want you to be happy.”

He stood and turned, meeting the eyes of Ben Valda.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but are you almost done?”

 

Helena smirked as she watched Will fumble with Ben Valda. It had been a bit mean to walk off when she knew her cousin was about to say something sweet. But she was tired. And his seemingly incessant questions were more tedious than usual. 

She caught Myka’s eye as the girl passed by with an empty rack and gave her the sauciest wink she could come up with. It always produced the loveliest shade of pink on the other girl’s face.

 

From across the aisle, Leena smiled. She was so going to win.

 

Clearance.

It was always a hated word, but became particularly despised the closer to Christmas as a never ending flow of products seemed to multiply like Tribbles in the massive back part of the store.

Buck, the assistant manager who had taken over the monster was a legend in organization and on most days Clearance was more of a headache.

But as the Old Navy team assembled in that section of the store they knew today was full on nightmare mode.

 

Ben sighed, it was already close to midnight and this was definitely going to be a two hour job.

“Myka, Helena and I will handle the hanging section,” he said without looking at the group. “Everyone else pick a wall area and get to it.  Nothing can be on the floor.”

“And sorting?” Myka asked, wanting to be clear.

“As best you can, I don’t want see the sun rise tomorrow and still be at the store.”

 

He ignored the grumbling and salty comments about customers as the group dispersed in the section. By this point in the evening, whatever undercurrent of energy that’d been present since Helena clocked in was muted.  Despite his early reservations about adding Will’s cousin to the team, she’d proven quite the asset on the floor, and was the only person he knew that appreciated a fine cup of tea.

Finishing the short T-stand at the end of the row, Ben looked up to make sure everyone was on task.  Everyone was working, yes, but a bit slower than he’d like. He watched for a couple of minutes as the team kept glancing over at an oblivious Myka and Helena who were quietly working side by side.

Rolling his eyes, Ben moved on to the next section in front of him, quickly immersed in what was left of the maxi dresses that had been such a hit a few months ago.  After a short time he looked up again, seeing the same pattern of silent exchanges, shoulder shrugs and grumbling.

It seemed that odd energy was back. As long as they could get out of here soon he would let things go without comment.  

Time dragged along as the group slowly made their way through the department.

Until…

 

“So,” Helena said softly. She and Myka were on opposite sides of the same T-Stand. “About our earlier conversation.”

Ben glanced over at the pair, hearing the soft sound of the Brit’s voice. He couldn’t help but unintentionally ease drop on their conversation.

“Regarding?” Myka replied without looking up, trying not to smile.

“I believe we were discussing arrangements for the Winter Formal?”

Ben looked up again and saw that now the entire team was trying to listen in discreetly on the conversation. And failing quite impressively.

 “Right,” Myka smirked. “I believe I said that I would only attend if the right person asked.”

“Correct,” Helena smiled.

Myka stopped hanging and looked at the other girl. “Good thing she asked me last week then.”

“Yes,” Helena beamed. “So would you like to dine before or after? I’ll have the car until midnight.”

 

Ben snorted, causing both Myka and Helena to look over at him.

“Sorry,” he choked out, “a bit dusty.”

If only Myka and Helena had seen the shocked expressions of their fellow workers. He would have to tell the new couple eventually.

It was too comical a moment not to share.

 

“I can’t believe it,” Jack looked over at Rebecca as they walked into the parking lot.  It was just before 2am and they were finally heading home.  

“She asked her. Last week.”

“I know,” Leena sighed, falling in step with the pair. “I was so sure it would be tonight.

“Well that’s based off of Will’s Intel,” Jack waved the other boy over.  “I thought you said sometime this week, most likely tonight.”

“She bloody well fooled us all,” Will replied with a shrug. “You never know what you’ll get with HG Wells.” He looked back at his cousin who was walking hand in hand with Myka to the other girl’s car.

“They seem pretty cozy,” Rebecca observed.

“She played us,” Jack shook his head. “She played us all.”

“Well if it’s any consolation,” Steve pointed over his shoulder as he walked up, catching the end of the conversation, “we’ve got another possible pool to start.” He waved and continued past to his Prius.

The group looked over to Pete and Amanda who were leaning on a car talking.

“Well there is that,” Will looked over at Jack. “I want in since you didn’t see fit to include me in the last one.”

“Maybe we should take a break from betting on people’s love lives,” Leena offered.

After a moment of shared looks.

“Nah.”

“Nope.”

“No way.”

“Just thought I’d put that out there.”

 

“Is everything okay?” Ben Valda  pulled up next to the group of teens. “Anyone need a ride or to make a call?”

“No were okay,” Rebecca spoke. “Just saying goodnight.”

“Right.” He looked over at Jack.  “My winnings?”

“Oh right,” Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash.  This time Ben openly laughed at the surprised faces.

“How did you?” Will asked.

“Helena asked me about romantic restaurants in the area a couple of weeks ago that Myka might like.” He shook his head. “Betting on people’s love lives, for shame.”

 

“What do you think they’re talking about over there?” Myka pulled Helena closer as she leaned against her car.  The slightly shorter girl fit snugly against her front.

“Hmm,”  Helena was distracted by the hands on her hips. “Most likely us. I know Will with interrogate me on the ride home.”

“Text me when you get there?”

“Of course,” Helena leaned in and kissed Myka’s cheek before she stepped back. With a smile she headed towards the car she shared with Will.

 

Myka felt positively giddy as she slipped into her car. She took a moment to catch her breath, stealing a look over at Helena as she joked with her cousin.

So many of her coworkers hated folding all those five dollar tee tables, but she found that she couldn’t anymore.

They would always remind her of the first time she spoke with Helena. 


End file.
